It is generally accepted that optimum shaving closeness and comfort are highly dependent on the optimum interface of the skin engaging elements and the skin surface being shaved. Shaving systems have been proposed which provide a razor head having a housing with relatively movable skin engaging elements, including a guard element, one or more blades, and a cap member. It has also been suggested to provide various degrees of movement to the entire razor head relative to the razor. The various embodiments of the present invention are directed to improvements in razors which permit a razor head to swivel and pivot in response to forces encountered during shaving which allows the razor cartridge to compensate for any lack of optimum relationship between the razor, cartridge and the skin being shaved.
Some of the previously disclosed arrangements for providing multiple degrees of movement include PCT Publication 93/20983 and U.K. Patent GB 2,116,470 which both disclose "swivel" movement which is commonly defined as pivoting about an axis which is parallel to an axis defined by the razor-cartridge engagement members.
Another system disclosed in GB 2,172,236 permits swivel motion and pivoting, but the pivoting movement causes blade movement to leave the notional plane of the surface being shaved. U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,518 discloses a four bar linkage system which allows pivoting and swivelling, but does not show springs or biasing elements for returning the razor head to a neutral position after the removal of shaving forces. The present invention is directed to improvements to shaving systems which allow a razor head to swivel and pivot relative to a razor during shaving.